Show Personnel
Over its long history, Wheel of Fortune has had many arrivals and departures in show personnel. This page covers the on-camera talent and major behind-the-scenes players in chronological order, with links where applicable. On-Camera Hosts * Chuck Woolery (1973, 1975-81) * Edd Byrnes (1974) * Pat Sajak (1981-; left the daytime show in January 1989) * Rolf Benirschke (January-June 1989) * Bob Goen (July 1989-August 1991 {daytime version's end}) * David Sidoni (Wheel 2000, 1997-98) Hostesses * Susan Stafford (1974-82) * Vanna White (1982-) * Cyber Lucy (Wheel 2000, 1997-98) Substitutes * Summer Bartholomew (September 1977; May 24-June 1, 1979; at least October 25-29, 1982) * Arte Johnson (September 1977 for at least one episode, partly to promote Knockout) * Cynthia Washington (June 4-8, 1979) * Vicki McCarty (November or December 1982) * Vanna White (November or December 1982) * Susan Stafford (daytime week of June 16-20, 1986) * Tricia Gist (nighttime shows in January and March 1991) * Rosie O'Donnell (March 4, 1997 {assisted Vanna in Round 3}) * Lesly Sajak (April 1, 1997) * Katie Cantrell (March 24, 2011 {Rounds 2-3}) Announcers * Mike Lawrence (1973) * Charlie O'Donnell (1974-80, 1989-2010) * Don Morrow (at least August 4-8, 1980) * Jack Clark (1980-88) * M. G. Kelly (1988-89) * Cyber Lucy (Wheel 2000, 1997-98) * Jim Thornton (2011-) Substitutes * Charlie O'Donnell (nighttime shows of October 21-November 1, 1985; at least May 9-13, 1988 on both versions) * Johnny Gilbert (unknown daytime shows from June-August 1988; November 27-December 8, 1995; April 1, 1997; November 1-19, 2010) * Don Pardo (nighttime shows of November 14-25, 1988) * Rich Fields (November 22-December 17, 2010 and January 31-February 4, 2011) * Jim Thornton (December 20, 2010-January 7, 2011; January 17-28, February 7-11, February 21-March 4, March 21-April 1, and technically April 18-June 10, 2011) * Lora Cain (January 10-14 and February 14-18, 2011) * Joe Cipriano (March 7-11 and April 11-15, 2011) * John Cramer (March 14-18 and April 4-8, 2011) Off-Camera Executive Producers * Merv Griffin (1973-2000; not credited from 1975-90) * Harry Friedman (1999-) Producers * Bill Carruthers (1973) * John Rhinehart (1974-76) * Nancy Jones (1975-95) * Harry Friedman (1995-99) * Karen Griffith (1997-) * Steve Schwartz (1997-) Directors * Bill Carruthers (1973) * Marty Pasetta (1974) * Jeff Goldstein (1975-78) * Dick Carson (1978-99) * Mark Corwin (1999-2013) * Bob Cisneros (2013-15; associate director prior to Corwin's death, and was also stage manager for Wheel during its Television City era {1989-95}) * Robert Ennis Jr. (2015-; also technical director of Jeopardy!) Substitutes * Mark Corwin (various times prior to 1999) * Kevin McCarthy (director of Jeopardy!; Las Vegas tapings of July 27-28/30-31 and August 2-3, 2013) * Bob Cisneros (Culver City tapings of August 22-23, 2013 and all tapings from mid-November onward, as noted above) * Robert Ennis Jr. (Culver City tapings of at least September 19-20 and October 3, 2013) Misc. * John Lauderdale (long-time staff member, present since 1973) * Ed Flesh (set designer; created the Wheel and 1974-81 puzzle board) * Alan Thicke (music writer, 1975-83) * Tanika Ray (actress of Cyber Lucy on Wheel 2000) Related To Wheel People and entities that have some direct relation to the show, but aren't (or weren't) employed by it. People * Lin Bolen (NBC Vice President of Daytime Programming, 1972-75 or '76; commissioned the show from Merv) * Fred Silverman (head of NBC programming, 1978-81; cancelled Wheel briefly in 1980) Networks * NBC (network of Wheel, 1975-89/1991) * CBS (network of Wheel, 1989-91/''Wheel 2000'') * ABC (current "network of record" for Wheel) * GSN (aired Wheel reruns, 1994-2010; also showed Wheel 2000 from 1997-2001) * CTV (official provider of Wheel and Jeopardy! to Canada, 1990-2008) * CBC (official provider of Wheel and Jeopardy! to Canada, 2008-12) * CHCH (official provider of Wheel and Jeopardy! to Canada, 2012-) Syndicated By... * King World (1983-2007) * Columbia TriStar Television (replaced the King World logo on GSN repeats, 1994-2000) * CBS Television Distribution (2007-) Category:People Category:Lists